The Tech Infantry Universe in a Nutshell
(Place Holder: Under Construction/might become category page) (Information here is for general knowledge and not too releveant regarding season 10) Note: Another explanation will be used for next season. However, this entry might provide some useful information. Eventually, it will be archived. This page is intended to summarize the state of affairs in the federation 20 years after the ending of season 9. Perhaps the most important factor in deciding what the Federation will look like depends upon how things continue right after Scyr gains control of the Orb and becomes Vin Dane (the imposter if you prefer.) This is important because it will determine the strength of the HTE, etc. (Below are my personal notes) So far there are two ideas on the table about how things should continue after the conclusion of season 9 when Scyr gains control of the Orb. 1) Scyr and the Orb Get destroyed (Proposed by Martin the Mess) *Shortly after Scyr gains control of the Orb and essentially becomes Vin Dane he is nearly in an unstopable position. Given that he is a Caal and has numerous of them nearby and in orbit he is in a position where he can be in power for a long time and there is no one capable of stopping him. Or is there? Lwan who up till this point has been pretty much known as a wonderer, hermit, or simply not involved with Federation affairs decides to intervene. He finally takes a stand. His reasons are unknown, but it is believed that as an Oracle Mage it is so much against his core values and beliefs to see the Orb, an item and spirit of life that in many ways represents in the hands of someone so evil that he finally decides to take action and become involved. *He confronts and fights Scyr while he is possession of the Orb not long after he had killed Cortez. In the magical battle that ensues with the likes of which have not been seen in over a thouasand years. Normally, Scyr possessing the Orb would have been able to defeat Lwan although not easily. However, the Orb does not fully cooperate with Scyr. The fight is a near stalemate and the exact details of what happens next is not clear. Whether it be someone intervenes, there is a massive paradox backlash, or something else the outcome is that the Orb explodes. What exactly actually happens after it explodes is has not been decided yet either. *One version that I like for happens after the Orb explodes is a Avalon System wide equivelant of a magical electromagnetice variation of a hydrogen bomb. It wipes out all forms life, along with destroying all technical computer systems etc as the result of a accompaning massive electromagnetic blast. This also wipes out the Caal in the system, kills Scyr and all other life. Lwan is killed too, but actual spirit of the Orb metamorphizes into Lwan someway, causing him to become some kind of supernatural ghost. Not a wraith or spectre, but something similar. Think of Ben Kenobi from Star Wars. Billions die on Avalon and he planet is left a deserted ghost planet. It will take generations for it to recover, but eventually it will return to how it was once before. *The Problem: It is too convenient and thus seems far to contrived to eleminate a former PC that is in such a powerful position. When Clarke was killed as an NPC that was years after I had run him and he had already done a lot of stuff to in the Federation. Scyr on the other hand has only recently been an PC and it really isn't fair to player to have his guy killed off between seasons this way. Down the road he could die off screen like Clarke, but not so soon after the conclusion of a season. In a way it is like saying "You win" and then just killing his character. 2) Scyr is no Vin Dane - Proposed by Malthus618 *While I a might be a little behind some of the other players when it comes to technobable and scientific literature, I have read a ton of Fantasy and D&D have learned a lot about items of incredible power. When you get right down to it the Orb is very similar to these artifacts in that is extremely powerful as we all know but along with being powerful it also is sentient and this starts to fall into my area of expertise. *-The Orb is not some kind of pocket knife that anyone can just pick up and start using.- It is an incredibly powerful artificat and that contains a spirit that attempts to guide the events around the user in such a way that he or she fulfills the desires of the Orb. It not just some artificial intelligence either. It so powerful that it is pretty much a life form of itself. In this case it has the spirit of the Lady of the Lake. *Nobody alive completely understands this item and all of its aspects(even Mordred). But as an item of such power and sentience, similar in someways to the ark from Raiders of the Lost Ark where no on really knew its secrets or the ring from the Lord of the Rings, the Crystal Shard (R A Salvatore), The Sword of Kaas (D&D 1st Edition bad ass artifact that was kind of dropped from the following editions), the Rods of the Seven Wizards (Mentioned in the Two Towers and was an actual poweful ass Artifact from D&D 1st edition). *Given that Orb is the most powerul item in the galaxy it has an incredibly powrful ego. A will. *She has the same ego as Soron or maybe even a Caine except it might be to preserve life? Nobody knows for sure. It was excalibur and its only rightful leader was King Arthur or who ever the Lady of the Lake declared. Anyone else that tries to wield it, had better be appointed by her or stronger than her will or things tend to go badly for them. **If it is a lesser item the affects can be minor such as temporary blindness when encountoring a certain type of creature or insanity. Curses like that. **If an artifact is extremely powerful with many abilities and has sentience such as Charon's Claw (bad ass sword wielded by Artemis Entriri the consequences can be more severe, if the wielder does not have enough ego. In the case of Charon's Claw it consumed the souls, burned the entire body of the holder to ash except for the skull of anyone who touched it without the strongest will and clear mind.) When someone comes into possession of it, there are really three basic possible outcomes. 1) The person already is someone Orb or item has chosen or can accept as its wielder. An example would be a paladin that recovers a holy avenger. 2) The second is when the have different goals or desires, but the wielder has a lower ego or will than the item. One example of this that we all know is when Gollum or humans gain control of the Ring in the Lord of the Rings (more on this later). *A good example is from three of RA Salvatores books about the Crystal Shard. In his books the Crystal Shard was created by seven liches that were formally arch wizards of extreme power along with the soul of a broken hearted Shiek. When the Shard came into possesion of someone, who was in control the wield or Shard was not decided by the intelligence, cunning, power or strength of the wielder. It was decided by will and ego. And given that Crystal Shard had among the very highest egos in all of the realms, the list of those that could over power it was very very short. 3) The third is that the ego of the wielder is greater than the artifact. Going back to the Lord of the Rings example, Soron was the only one in Middle Earth that could bend the Ring to his will. Now, Soron was definitely a bad ass in his own right, but it was his ultimate force of will and ego that allowed him to bend the Ring to his well. In the TI universe the real Vin Dane was able to control the Orb and have do what he wanted. Sure Vin Dane by himself was not a Demigod or God, but that didn't matter. He was a horadrim mage with his own long history dating back centuries. He had the ultimate level superiority and conviction in who he was and what he wanted. And remember, it is not the strength or cunning of an individual that allows them to control an artifact like the Orb. It is the conviction of the wielder that determines it. So. Out of the three possibilities as to how Scyr would interact with the Orb, it would definitely be the second one. In many ways, Scyr's quest to find and get the Orb was similar to Gollum trying to get the Ring in someways. Scyr's only driving goal was to get it, but he had never developed the force of personality necessary to control it. He may have believed that he did, but that was never fully established in his stories. Sure he is a Caal but that is not nearly enough. Simply being an alien isn't going to do it. Plus we know from his stories he was no ordinary Caal he also had a human personality and was very clever. If he was he never would have succeeded in getting it - but that is not nearly enough to control such a powerful item. He suffered constantly in the stories from split personalities and was very unstable. Those are not good things to have if someone wants to control the Orb - especially since the Orb would clearly not want someone of such evil and not a part of humanity to wield it. Not many people in the Federation can dominate the Orb. Mordred, the real Vin Dane (when he was alive) Clarke (if he was alive), Lwan, Treschi and a few others. Sure all those guys were powerful, but they also had or have extreme egos which is the important thing when it comes to controlling the Orb and bending it to their will. Their egos that have been built up over decades or even centuries after winning and accumulating a lot of wisdom and experience. At present Scyr is not one of those guys. Not by a long shot. Now while the Orb would prefer a wielder like Lwan, Izzy, or Argus had he survived, it cannot overtly turn on Scyr and kill him. It doesn't work that way. But, it can manipulate its wielder in such a way that it will result in his death so that some one else can get it. The Crystal Shard did this and so did the ring in Lord of the Rings. Given Scyr's unstable personality and a will and ego not nearly on the scale of those like Ennoia or Mordred for instance, the Orb could play Scyr like a fiddle. It can float ideas in his mind and make him think that they were his own. It can prop up Scyr and make him think he is God where everyone including his fellow Caal are his followers without Scyr ever realize that the Orb was doing it. One idea about how the Orb could play upon Scyr's multiple personality complex and makes him the insane equivilant of a Carlos I of Spain or Caligula from Rome. His fellow Caal around Avalon attempt to cure him and refuses to think that he is sick. He lashes out on them with the Orb. Those that survive leave. Meanwhile, Scyr is appoints some of the worst leaders to varius planets and the HTE falls into serious decline, poor officers are put in control of ships. Now while the HTE falls into decline it still has teeth though. It still has a large military and even though the economy sucks simply due to the population size they can support a large military. Etc. At the beginning of the next "season" the HTE still has a fleet that has not been maintained at all for nearly 20 years, a ruler that is about as insane as Malkav but completely delusional and not enlightened, but has a big stick, and pretty much all of the other major powers in the Federation are licking their teeth and want to take down the HTE, get the Orb from a pathetic ruler. Once again the Federation is fragmented and in the midst of a civil war. This of course seems like it could be a rerun of season 9, but it also seems like the most logical flow of events based upon how we left things and that Scyr is in control of the Orb but does not nearly have the will or experience to wield it. The biggest difference, is the HTE is not the strongest power in the Federation and instead of having a powerful, wise and intelligent leader, it has an leader that is completely incompetant, complacent, with absolute power, and even with the Orb ensuring that so long as he wields it then his downfall is a certainty. However, for the time being a lot of the major leaders might be willing to try and manipulate Scyr into having his military knock over one of their rivals. Also unless Scyr is supported in someway, sooner or later the Orb is going to influence him to make a critical mistake that will result in his death. And it is possible that the fate of the universe will fall into the hands of the next ruler.